Jefferies Technology Group
Does anyone have any info on the Jefferies Technology IBD group? I have an interview coming up soon. Thanks.
EDIT: For NYC tech group
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Overall or tech group specifically?
Overall I give the edge to Baird, people on this website seem split on Jefferies in terms of where it plays, but I think it's just a touch below the top MM of Blair/Baird. If culture matters then Baird hands down.
In terms of tech group though, Jefferies appears to have an edge depending on your interest. Baird will have more tech/biz services focus.
I wouldn't read all that much into it. I put Baird/Blair/Jefferies/HL and maybe HW in a top tier of MM firms.
Baird/Blair in particular have seen record growth in the last ~5 years and given their cultures and recruiting from top b schools they seem to be attracting top talent. Anecdotally, fellow classmates picked both over Jefferies/HL any time they had a decision to make. Could be random or school perceived sentiment, but that was the perception on campus.
East Coast
Can confirm M7 friends preferred Baird/Blair/HW over Jefferies
Not calling anyone else a liar but its surprising to hear several commenters say that Blair/Baird/HL are considered better than Jefferies in terms of bank brand. I could certainly understand lumping all of those together in a broader top tier of MM shops. But if we're splitting hairs I do think Jefferies is considered the best MM shop and by far the only one that's arguably "lower BB" given that its full service.
Fact that someone included HW is a bit of a tell, HW is generally a step belowthis discussion.
Before ppl throw MS let me say once again, they're certainly all close enough that someone with offers from these shops should be looking at specifics of the group/offer and not bank name. Anyone with offers from GS/MS/JPM would decide based on group, not bank. Same goes for Jef/Blair/Baird. But if the question is which bank in each group is a slightly stronger overall brand, its GS and Jef.
This is totally inaccurate and not sure what school you went to but a quick LinkedIn search will show Jefferies consistently places analysts to MF PE particularly out of healthcare energy and M&A and UMM PE out of all other groups far stronger than Blair/Baird. Jefferies average deal size is way larger than any other MM and tons of those deals are above 1 billion. Literally know people at Blair and Baird that consistently work on 100-200MM sell sides and anytime they score a mandate above a billion they are never the sole advisor or lead on the deal. Jefferies is in a tier of its own in the MM and doesn’t even really compete with other MM banks (group depending) besides of course RBC. JEFs primary competitors are the UBSs and CSs of the world.
TLDR: I know I started ranting a bit, but the takeaway is that JEF is a great bank to lateral into from a non-traditional background or smaller bank, but get out as fast as you can while still scoring a really nice exit.
Need to correct a few things in the thread:
- SF Tech: does M&A in-house, but occasionally outsources to the NYC M&A team, or pulls on a Tech M&A resource or two from NYC. I think this is best of both worlds because I personally think M&A is overrated and Tech coverage work is much more interesting. You will get enough Tech industry experience and M&A modeling/process experience over 1.5-2 years to make a nice exit to a tech buyside firm if you are pretty good.
- NYC Tech: Pretty similar to SF Tech in every way, but there is a slightly more defined Tech M&A sub-practice. I also think hours in this group are a bit worse than SF, mostly because of the time zone difference (ex: say SF MD gives last comments at 12pm which is 3am ET) and the culture of NYC banking is just more intense and formal anyways.
- Exits: obviously not a good as Q, most of the BBs, or the top boutique banks, but surprisingly solid. Think Tech MM/UMM, a lot of Tech growth equity, some VC, and nice Tech Corp Dev/Corp Strat roles. There’s a few non-tech buyside exits too. You can do an easy LinkedIn search to find out what exact firms people have placed at.
- Clawbacks: don’t worry about this at the analyst level, they don’t exist. Know what you’re getting into at the associate level.
- Culture: Tough to stay how much worse it is than other banks, but it has gotten just insane over there. JEF is growing quickly and staffing needs are not catching up with the dealflow. Multiple analysts across SF and NYC are quitting, lateraling, and exiting mid-year and forgoing bonuses (but they’re placing pretty well). At the worst, it’s 130 hour work weeks on SPAC deals. Senior team is aware of how bad it’s getting, but just not reacting. Rich Handler is a PR figurehead and his social media portrayal of the firm is frankly insulting and manipulative. There are some really, really great senior guys there, and the Asso/Anl level is pretty tight, but man, there are some straight-up soulless, vapid husks in the senior ranks. Don’t do banking for more than 2 years, guys, especially at Jefferies. I will say it is a solid place to lateral into, and exit out of, but it will crush you.
- Other groups: Healthcare is even worse, no joke. But it’s a very impressive team, very old school banking. Industrials is probably just as bad as Tech. Consumer has some great exits and slightly better hours/culture.